Our attitude, if it’s a positive one, gives us the opportunity to rise. Negative attitudes don’t offer those same opportunities. I believe attitude plays a vital role in life.

My friend and guest blogger, Amminy Daniel, was raised in Southern India. She and her husband of 52 years moved to the United States in 2011. They have a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren. She is always full of joy! She loves to cook and take walks. 

A positive thinker’s attitude is often a stepping stone to his success. And a negative thinker’s attitude likely becomes a stumbling block, often leading to failures or setbacks.

Before we go any further, let’s examine the word attitude. Webster’s dictionary defines attitude as “a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior.”

Do you have a settled way of thinking? Does your behavior reflect that way of thinking?

It’s Not the Color

The following story demonstrates the importance of attitude.

There was a man who made his living selling balloons at the fair. He sold red ones and blue ones and green ones and yellow ones.

Whenever business was slow, he released colorful helium-filled balloons into the air. Sometimes a red one. Other times a yellow one.

When the children saw a balloon rising in the air, they all wanted one. Children came and bought many balloons, which increased his sales. When sales would slow down, he would release another balloon.

One afternoon, a young boy approached the man. “Mister, if you release a black balloon, will it also fly?”

Moved by the boy’s concern, the man leaned down and looked him in the eye. “Son, it’s not the color of the balloon that makes it fly. It’s what’s inside that makes it rise.”

The same principle applies in our lives. It’s what is inside that counts. Our attitude gives us the opportunity to rise.

 

 

An Attitude of Gratitude

If you feel your attitude is like lead, here are several suggestions for making it more like helium:

1. Look for the positive in every situation.
2. Develop an attitude of gratitude.
3. Stay away from negative influences.
4. Engage with constructive activities.
5. Consider problems to be opportunities.

 

 

A Young Shepherd Boy

The Bible story of David and Goliath found in 2 Samuel 17 holds many valuable lessons, including lessons about our attitude. The powerful lesson about how David’s attitude helped him defeat the giant is my favorite one!

The Philistine, Goliath, was a giant of a man. Not only was he about nine and a half feet tall, but he also struck fear in everyone’s heart. Especially the Israelite army!

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? . . . Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects, but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” (1 Samuel 17: 8-10)

King Saul and the Israelite army were terrified. For forty days, Goliath challenged the Israelite army. None of the Israelite soldiers had enough grit to go against Goliath. Then, a young shepherd boy named David brought supplies to his brothers who were fighting on the battle lines.

He Is Too Big to Miss

David couldn’t understand why his brothers were not standing up to the giant and fighting him. David realized his brothers were terrified of Goliath. I can imagine them saying, “Don’t you see he is too big to hit?” And likely David said, “No, he is not too big to hit. HE IS TOO BIG TO MISS.”

David presented himself to King Saul and said he wished to fight Goliath. When offered, David passed on the opportunity to use King Saul’s armor to fight Goliath. Instead, he picked up five smooth stones to use with his slingshot.

When Goliath taunted him, David boldly and confidently said, “You come at me with sword and spear and battle-ax. I come at you in the name of the God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel’s troops, whom you curse and mock. This very day God is handing you over to me. I’m about to kill you, cut off your head, and serve up your body and the bodies of your Philistine buddies to the crows and coyotes.”

And he did. He hit Goliath hard in the forehead, embedding the stone deeply. Goliath crashed face down in the dirt.

A Positive and Confident Attitude

How was David able to defeat the giant Goliath when the Israelite army couldn’t?

Same giant. Different attitude!

A positive and confident attitude was rooted in David’s unshakable faith in the LORD.

Wherever you have placed your security or confidence or faith, that is one of the major determining factors of whether you have a positive or negative attitude.

William James of Harvard University once said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude.”

I wonder if David would agree. I believe he would!

A Goliath-Sized Health Struggle

Recently, I faced a Goliath-sized health struggle. I hesitated to deal with it, because I was afraid of the surgery and how difficult the recovery process would be.  I felt small like David in comparison

to the big and unbearable pain. At that point, my friend Melony encouraged me to rely on my faith and believe God could defeat my Goliath-sized health struggle.

She reminded me of how my positive attitude could play a vital role in defeating my anxiety and fear.

I’m happy to report the surgery was a success, and by His grace, I didn’t need one single pain pill!

Leave a reply (below): What if a positive attitude could reduce or eliminate your fears and anxiety? It has mine! I know it could do it for you, too!